A typical example of prior art drum feeders is shown in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Specification 263528/1986 in which a chute discharges materials into a drum having a series of apertures spaced circumferentially about the drum so that as the buckets travel beneath the drum, the drum is rotated in synchronism with the travel of the buckets to discharge material into the buckets through the apertures in the drums. In a device of this character, it is difficult to control the flow of material so as to avoid excessive discharge into individual buckets, or to provide distribution of the material throughout the entire width of the bucket between the chains.
Attempts to provide distribution of the material transversely of the bucket have involved complex trippers or scrapers to attempt to level the material within the bucket or else to provide channelized discharges at various points across the width of the bucket. Such devices render the feeding mechanism unduly complicated and subject to malfunction.